Hands-On Activities and Make and Takes-Pioneer/Early Waverly teachings and history

2024 was a busy year for our new Make and Takes philosophy. We expanded on that in 2025 and 2026 promises to be even more fun-filled. We are planning to be open one Saturday Morning a month coinciding with the Waverly Farmer's Market Schedule with anticipated Sturdevant Historical House open hours from 10am-12noon or as published on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067935875004

 What we did in 2025: 

-Feb./March worked with marketing class/intern/getting house ready/staging rooms/furniture 

-May-Art Walk events at FE Building and artisans at the house about 75 people through the doors at the museum and 40 at the house. 

-Worked with intern for May Term helped with 1st St. SW walking tour of historic places and events along "Water Street." 

-July Heritage Days: Participated in the Parade handing out labeled pencils, candy, erasers with folks from the Museum float/convertible. 

- July Sat. Heritage Days Open house with artisans at the house and make and take crafts-Rope Making, soap making, doll making, spinning/weaving demo, Garden/Farm tools demo, and more!  

-July Heritage Days Sunday Open House advertised as just tours of house and grounds and improvements; with many new visitors attending the period style decorated rooms. 

-July Work Day with BOD

-July Pizza Ranch Fundraiser. Printed materials handed out, goodie bags handed out, printed material on tables, and donation jars set out. Descendants helped at this event. Thank you!

-Aug. Worked with Wartburg student needing extra hours in Education/History Departments-helped with planning with Historical Family Fall Festival and the Historical Cemetery Tour. 

-Sept. started advertising events by creating social media posters, press release for paper, and facebook posts/shares with the Museum for Sunday afternoon at FE Train activities with Fall activities at house. Tried to gather a crowd with advertising but really need to piggy back off another event with attendees already gathered. 

-Sept. Pizza Ranch Fundraiser 

-Sept. Day of Caring-Awesome crew from Nestle’s-laid patio block at the back gate where it was muddy, relandscaped and built up mulch by Southwest garage downspout that was leaking into the garage, general landscaping, cutting back day lilies, walnut trees, pulling weeds etc. Private person reached out to do some work later-(power washed and restained the deck). Elizabeth and crew fertilized and reseeded the North maple tree lawn, but it needs fertilizing again and grass seed this spring with mulch/potting soil on top. Always looking for volunteers to do these tasks!

-China cupboard purchased at garage sale and put in place. Still on the look-out for a corner cupboard of sorts or shelving unit to display antique kitchen tools Kris donated from an the Miller auction and some items from Rosie Hoffman’s estate auction. STILL WANT a small 1850-1890's cookstove-non working is fine. 2-4 burners and stove pipe if available. (See our kitchen poster on Facebook for the style)

-Oct. Cemetery Walk with Museum tickets sold ahead of time, time slots created ahead of time and some added to the overwhelming positive response. Sturdevant House open 1.5 hours before and had 30 visitors, many from Waterloo Cedar Falls waiting to go on the cemetery tour. Lead on a kitchen stove from Cedar Falls gentleman whose friend collects them. Follow up needed. 

-Oct. Approached by a construction/contractor for metal detecting permission and has some some in kind donations for us perhaps. NEED TO FOLLOW UP.

-Oct. Chamber Spooky Downtown historical walk (Bob and Kris Brunkhorst Participated as story tellers, telling the history of the Barber Bro's at the courthouse and early Waverly and Sturdevant House History) 

-Nov. Christmas Through Time with the museum-postponed to Dec. 12 inch snowfall!

-Nov. Pizza Ranch Fundraiser 

-Nov. Helped decorated the Museum-our partners for this event- with donated items and helped them get their Christmas décor out. Themed rooms had period decorations and posters of the history of Christmas at that time. Victorian, WW1 and WW11/Depression era, Retro 50, 60, 70’s Christmas and Santa Pictures that they signed up and paid for ahead of time via Museum’s Square Reservation System. 

-Dec. Improvements in lighting with rechargeable light bulbs in fixtures, took down some modern fixtures 

Decorated for Christmas some items donated, much loaned out from members. Solar lights for the front walk. Very Cozy-at times. First time the Sturdevant House was lit up at night since flood of 2008!!!

-Dec. 4th private businesses open house/tour at night with funding and invite letter sent prior to-some hand delivered. 

-Dec. Thursday Christmas on Main rescheduled Christmas Through Time-No attendees at the house, as most activity was from Fareway to Courthouse/Downtown.

-Dec. 16th Wednesday early out crafts at the house-Wood bead ornament on wire (decorative Christmas wood beads, jingle bells, old jewelry baubles for tassels, ribbon) and dried orange slice ornament making (with cinnamon sticks, star anise, small pine cones, ribbon,) Ruth Lovejoy’s Molasses Cookies in a jar making with recipe printed and attached, interpretive tours, making Christmas “Crackers” poppers, and apple cider sachet bags. 

Made contacts with all the schools and now have these for announcements, Friday Folders, and emails to parents. Will consider more early out Wed. days for activities. Started at 2:15pm students came about 2:25-2:30pm. It was so fun!!! See FB for pictures.

Private schools correspondence: working on setting up tours. 

-Homeschoolers coming Tuesday, Jan. 27 for One Room School House activities including providing them with a list of typical lunch items and lunch pail types so we could each lunch together, making slates with construction paper and wooden sticks to write names in chalk, making paper drinking cups, making biscuits in a jar to take home, churning butter and learning about the one room schoolhouse facts and history of in Waverly and in Iowa.

We are writing 4th grade curriculum with worksheets and adding Sturdevants and Cretzmeyer to Harmon History.

-Gift Shop offerings and sales at the house were wonderful this holiday 

-Makers Market on main street at Get Roasted Coffee during Christmas on Main-great sales and exposure! 

-Silent Auction at Museum was very profitable. 

-Raised our $69,000 of funds needed to fix the south brick wall and reconstruct other structural items in the 171 year old house.

-Jan. 2026 decorating "crew" revamped the gift shop lay out at the house.

-Feb. 2026 Construction by Randall Construction and Masonry of Osage-historic contractors- has begun! Thank you for helping us to continue this important historical landmark. Phase 2 is exciting to help replace some original features, so keep those donation $$ coming!